Lucky contest winner creates healthy meal in own home

Thursday

Aug 6, 2009 at 12:01 AMAug 6, 2009 at 6:15 AM

Ever wish you could cook like a professional chef? Sally Farzaneh of Weston was the recent lucky winner of a contest at Hannaford supermarket in Waltham and got the opportunity to cook with chef German Lam.

Michael Glen

Ever wish you could cook like a professional chef? Sally Farzaneh of Weston was the recent lucky winner of a contest at Hannaford supermarket in Waltham and got the opportunity to cook with chef German Lam.

Farzaneh, a dentist in Waltham, won the Hannaford contest to promote health and wellness last month, receiving a $250 gift card and a private lesson with Lam.

With Lam’s guidance, Farzaneh used her gift card to look for ingredients at Hannaford that they would use to cook. After shopping, they headed to Farzaneh’s home in Weston where Lam conducted a cooking class for Farzaneh, along with her friends and family.

Farzaneh said she ended up cooking with ingredients she had never used before.

"At the store I wanted to buy the vegetables that I didn’t know how to cook. (German) was very good, incorporating all the exotic vegetables in the dishes we were preparing. It was quite an impromptu experience, somewhat mimicking real life," said Farzaneh.

"We bought the ingredients and cooked them at home with the help of my friends and family. The children got involved in the preparations and ended up eating the dishes too. We grilled the fish and used the spices that I had at home to cook the meal."

In the span of two hours, the group made four dishes – chilled gazpacho soup, summer vegetable stir fry, grilled swordfish with tarragon and dill, and tri-color couscous with sun dried tomatoes and white pilaf.

The cooking class with Lam was a great learning experience for Farzaneh.

"Everyone enjoyed themselves and it was a very memorable evening," she said. "I loved the stir fry vegetable dish he made and have tried to replicate it since then. But it is so easy that you can use any medley of vegetables.

"Overall it was a great success. I would love Chef Lam to help me with other meal ideas as well."

Lam founded Glam Foods LLC in April 2008 after working as a chef at the Ritz-Carlton (where he earned his MBA), Harvard Club, Chatham Bars Inn, Mirabelle Restaurant and the Needham Sheraton Hotel.

Glam Foods offers in-home cooking consultations designed to teach people how to create healthy lifestyles.

"I wanted to create a professional food coach service to help train, educate and develop kids, families and professionals with real solutions to change their thinking habits," said Lam. "I use the X’s and O’s of sports training. Train like a champion, eat like a champion! … Eating is a life skill (that lasts) forever."

Lam’s goal is not simply to teach people how to cook, but to instill self-confidence in their abilities to prepare meals.

"The majority of people do not know how to cook a simple meal. They are afraid in the kitchen … People know how to eat healthy, but they do not have the disciplined attitude to buy into the program.

"Eating healthy starts at home with your parents teaching core values in life. One of the factors is respect yourself when you eat," said Lam.

Above all, Lam believes that simplicity and balance are crucial in preparing a healthy meal.

"Keep it simple, make sure the food has energy, life, passion, smells wonderful, the presentation is clean and lastly you are proud of the food you made," he said. "You can destroy healthy food by applying the wrong preparation methods. Use all the five colors in the food pyramid that will give you a balanced, healthy meal each time."

Aside from in-home consultations, Lam works with athletes and professional teams to develop healthy methods of fueling the body for sports. Glam Foods also offers meal planning and budgeting programs and personal chef services.

To learn more about Glam Foods visit "www.glamfoodsllc.com" or call 617-999-3868 for more information.